The U.S. Dept. of Defense has selected GE Aviation’s T901-GE-900 engine for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase of the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the U.S. Army’s project for replacing the engines in its fleet of Boeing AH-64 Apaches and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks. The $517-million award covers the engineering, manufacturing, and development phase of the ITEP.
According to reports, GE Aviation’s won the order against a competing proposal submitted jointly by Pratt & Whitney and Honeywell Inc.
The ITEP initiative was launched in 2009 and seeks to improve fuel consumption, power, durability, and cost of the current Apache and Black Hawk engine, the GE Aviation T701. ITEP aims to re-engine over 700 Apaches and more than 1,300 Black Hawks after 2025. The new engine also will be available to power the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft.
The T901-GE-900 is turboshaft engine that retains the T701 architecture, and will have modular elements (additive manufactured and ceramic-matrix composite parts) in common with other GE Aviation engine programs, including the CFM LEAP, GE9X, and GE ATP. The developer noted the T901’s single-spool core design is “key to its low cost, growth, reliability, maintainability and reduced life-cycle costs."
According to GE, carrying over the T700 engine’s single-spool core architecture ensures that the T901 engine is ready to continue delivering combat readiness to the Warfighter over the next four decades.
GE also noted it has invested $9 billion to develop the technologies applicable to the T901, and more than $300 million to develop and test turboshaft-specific technologies.
“We are honored to be chosen by the Army to continue powering their Black Hawks and Apaches for decades to come,” stated Tony Mathis, president and CEO of GE Aviation’s military business. “We’ve invested in the resources and infrastructure to execute immediately, and our team is ready to get to work on delivering the improved capabilities of the T901 to the Warfighter.”
